


Don't Let It End

by PetraPhoenix



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Affection, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:09:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetraPhoenix/pseuds/PetraPhoenix
Summary: It’s been a grueling day of Mario Party 2 and Arin is still hopelessly in love with his best friend. What else is new?
Relationships: Dan Avidan/Arin Hanson, egobang
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Don't Let It End

“Well that was fucking awful,” Dan said, throwing his controller to the side and sinking into the Grump couch.

Arin exited _Mario Party 2_ and immediately went to work setting up their next game. They had just played an excruciating fifty-round game (Dan’s idea, not his) and their brains were mush.

“God, I think I need to go lie down,” Dan groaned. Arin looked over at him. Dan’s eyes were closed and his curls fell in a mess over the back of the couch. Usually Arin would reach over and play with them a little, give Dan some comfort. But ever since Dan had gotten together with Ashley, Arin felt a rift growing between them. Of course, it wasn’t a particularly large one. But the nights when Arin would make Dan dinner after recording sessions and they’d spend some off-camera time together had ended. Dan was always rushing out the door to get home to Ash, his quick, soft smile apologetic.

“Next time, big cat,” he’d say, pulling on his shoes. He had said that every time for the past few weeks.

Now, in their intermission between recordings, Arin got up, grabbed Dan’s empty glass, and filled it up at the sink, letting the water run so it’d be extra cold. Dan’s eyes were still closed, head back, when Arin returned. He pressed the glass gently against Dan’s forehead.

“Mmm,” Dan said, smiling. “That feels nice.” He opened his eyes and Arin smiled back, weakly. There was a vulnerable beat, the two men looking at each other with equal parts affection and exhaustion.

“If you still wanna lie down,” Arin said, passing Dan the glass, “Just go chill on my bed. I’ll handle set-up shit here.”

“Really?” Dan said. “Thanks dude.”

“Yeah, of course,” Arin said. He unplugged the controllers and wound up the cords. It wasn’t _bad_ that Dan wanted to be with Ash a lot. He had fallen for her, hard. Arin hadn’t really accepted this until recently when Dan, out of nowhere, had said, “I think she’s the one.”

“Yeah?” Arin had replied. He remembered how strangled his voice had sounded. Arin wound the cord tighter. Dan had never been like this with any other girl. _I mean, he’s 41,_ Arin thought. _It’s about time he found a lifelong partner. I guess._ Arin looked down at the controller. The joysticks had bent painfully under the cord at wrong angles.

“Fuck,” he muttered. As he loosened it, suddenly Dan’s arms were around him. Dan linked his fingers and held Arin’s mid-section.

“You’re really tense,” Dan said. “Did Mario Party fuck you, too?”

“I mean, I guess so.” God, why did he feel so down all of a sudden? He leaned back into Dan, resting his head on the other man’s shoulder.

They stood there, Arin staring into the distance, trying to memorize the feeling of Dan holding him. There was something deep in Arin that was finally surfacing now that Dan had found “the one.” For days it had been gnawing at him, and peaked whenever he overheard Dan talking to Ash on the phone or saw a new post of them together online. The fact of it was that Arin had convinced himself that one day Dan was going to turn to Arin, casual as anything, and tell him that he had feelings for him. Arin had fantasized for years about finally being able to tell Dan that he loved him without fear of Dan reacting badly. It’s not like they had to fuck or hold hands or whatever. They could just...be in love. Arin shivered at thinking something so blatant and pointed, as if Dan could somehow overhear.

Dan gave Arin a quick squeeze and began to head towards the bedroom. “I’m gonna take five, see you soon.”

“Aw shit, I could use a lie down, too,” Arin said, hoping his grin didn’t look too pained. “You don’t mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.” Dan said airily. “You look like you need it, you’re kinda peaked.” He paused, his grin turning sinister. “It’s fine as long as you don’t decide to jizz right next to my face.”

“Oh my God, don’t fucking bring that up again,” Arin said, rolling his eyes. 

The two settled on top of the covers, lying back to back. Dan was scrolling through his phone while Arin lay stiff and staring into the room’s darkness, feeling a distressing combination of emotions roil inside of him like food poisoning. Dan giggled.

“You gotta see this," he said, rolling over to show Arin something on his phone. It was a meme Arin had already seen, but he still snorted at it. “That’s fucked.”

“Totally.” Sighing, Dan turned off his phone and chucked it on the night table. Both men lay on their backs. Arin tried to meditate, taking slow, steady breaths.

“Hey, Ar?” Dan said.

“Yeah?”

“I gotta tell you something.”

Arin sat up, so quick that Dan shuffled back a little. “Sorry,” Arin muttered. Fuck, he needed to chill. Dan sat up slowly and scooted along the covers until he was facing Arin.

“I’m, uh, thinking of asking Ash to marry me,” Dan said. He put his hand on the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “Is that crazy?”

“No!” Arin said, forcefully. “I mean, no, not crazy. You love her, man, go for it.” His stomach twinged painfully. “Yeah, awesome idea.”

Dan watched his friend in the darkness for a few beats. He reached out and put a hand on Arin’s shoulder.

“Thanks, man,” he said, his voice a whisper. He cleared his throat. “There was one other thing, I guess.” Dan inhaled, long and slow. Arin cringed internally. What? Did Dan want him to be the godfather to his fucking first-born son?

“Arin…” Dan jerked his chin up and caught Arin’s eyes. “I wanted to…” Dan didn’t finish his thought. Instead he lifted his hand from Arin’s shoulder, cupped his face, and kissed him, firm and sure.

Arin’s mouth dropped open and Dan laughed. He dropped his hand and pulled away quickly, touching his lips self-consciously. “Hah, your mustache kinda tickles.” 

“Sorry,” Arin said, his mouth still hanging in a surprised _O_.

“Oh no, don’t apologize,” Dan said. Neither of them moved. Arin shook his head. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

“Fuck, Arin, I’m sorry.” Dan said. “That was really rude of me.”

“No, oh my God no,” Arin said quickly, finally recovering. He scooted closer to Dan and cupped his face with both hands. His regular cocksureness sprung back into him and he kissed Dan, hard.

Dan’s scruff raked Arin’s cheek and their teeth gently clacked together. Neither of them had ever felt something so comfortable, something so novel and electrifying, yet familiar. Dan pressed into the kiss, letting his mouth open slightly for Arin’s tongue. He mused that the feeling wasn’t dissimilar to when Arin had lifted him and twirled him around at that liveshow. Trust, weightlessness, warmth… All things he felt with Ash, but never quite to this urgent degree.

Arin was the first to break away, slightly out of breath. He shook his head, eyes full of bemusement and adoration. “Look,” Arin said. “I’ll be the first to say it: I’m rock fucking hard.”

“Arin!” Dan laughed, covering his face. “But me too,” he said into his hands.

Tentatively, Arin wrapped his fingers around Dan’s ankle, drawing soft circles there with his thumb. Dan let out a small, happy hum. “Sooo,” Arin said. “You’re getting engaged?”

“God, I don’t know,” Dan said, eyes fluttering closed as Arin reached up Dan’s pant leg, moving the strokes to his calf. “I mean, it’s kinda now or never, right? I’m gonna be old as shit soon.”

“You’re already old as shit,” Arin said, warmly.

“Geez, thanks.”

They sat in silence, Arin stroking his hand along Dan’s leg.

“You don’t have to propose to her now,” Arin said, his voice more hopeful than he meant it to be.

“I know, it’s just…” Dan threw up his hands. “I don’t know! I can’t even think about it straight with your hand on my leg like this. Fuck, Arin. Honestly, I didn’t know this would be so intense. I don’t know.”

“Well, what do you want?” Arin said, reluctantly pulling his hand away. “Like, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

“I want to keep kissing you,” Dan blurted. He brushed an anxious hand through his hair.

“Say no more,” Arin said. Slowly, watching Dan’s face carefully, Arin lifted himself slightly and sat between Dan’s loosely crossed legs. Arin twined his own legs around Dan’s back. They were close enough now that Arin could feel the heat radiating off Dan. Arin twined his fingers into Dan’s hair and the other man sighed, squeezing Arin’s forearm. Arin flicked his tongue across Dan’s lips, making him laugh again, before pressing his lips to Dan’s. The roiling in his stomach had formed one wave, and it was smashing, warmly, sweetly, against Arin’s ribcage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fic on this site. I'm interested in continuing this story in the near future, so if you enjoyed it please let me know and stay tuned!
> 
> Oh, and the "jizz right next to you face" comment is a reference to a real childhood story Arin told during a recording session!!


End file.
